6.  山雀的报答

THE TITMOUSE'S REWARD　

在约两千年前的汉代，华阴山北面，住着一姓杨的农户。他们全家都是农民，非常珍爱他们的独子，并给他起名叫做宝——财宝的意思。

　　During the Han dynasty, about two thousand years ago, to the north of Huayin Mountain, there lived a family called Yang. They were farmers, and had only one child,  who was so precious to him that they named him Treasure Pao.

杨宝不仅聪明、善良、机敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人材。他的父母剃光他的头， 只留下头顶的两撮头发，扎成两个发髻。每个人都承认他很聪明。　　

　　Yang Pao was not only clever, kind and quick-witted, but he was also very good looking with his clear eyebrows and bright eyes. His parent shaved all of his hair off except for two locks on the top, which they tied into two knots. Everybody agreed that he was very cute.

杨宝热爱自然。他时常在华阴山的树林里玩。杨宝九岁的时候，一天，他跟往常一样在外边玩。忽然听到上方传来一阵惊叫声。他抬头一看，见一只猫头鹰刚在空中抓住了一只山雀。猫头鹰发现有人在看它捕猎，受到惊吓，丢下了山雀。那只山雀被摔昏了，躺在地上一动不动。

　　Yang Pao loved nature. He spent a lot of time playing in the forests of Huayin Mountain. One day when he was nine years old, he was playing outdoors as usual. All of a sudden he heard a cry above him. He looked up and saw a hunting owl had just snatched a little bird, a titmouse, out of the air. The owl was so startled to discover someone watching it hunt that it dropped the titmouse, which fell to the ground. It was so dazed it just lay there without moving.

蚂蚁们想搬走山雀当食物。山雀先被猫头鹰的利爪所伤，又从空中跌下，已经动弹不得。杨宝跑过去，拾起山雀，掸去蚂蚁。他把山雀带回家，放在一个竹笼里饲养。　　

　　Ants then came to take it away for food, but the titmouse had been hurt by the owl's claws and the fall to the ground, so it couldn't move. Yang Pao ran over and picked the titmouse up, brushing away the ants. He took the titmouse home and raised it in a bamboo cage.

杨宝很珍爱这只小鸟。他用菊花的花瓣来喂它，还照料它的伤口，直到它康复能够飞翔。然后他把它带到树林里放生了。　　

　　He loved his little bird. He fed it chrysanthemum petals and tended to its wounds until it was strong enough to fly. Then he took it to the forest and let it go.

“你现在自由了！小心猫头鹰！再见了！”　　

　　"You're free now! Watch out for owls! Goodbye!"

之后不久，杨宝做了一个奇怪的梦。一个穿着褐色衣服的小孩过来感谢他的救命之恩。他送给杨宝四只贵重的玉镯，说：“你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把这四只无暇的玉镯送给你来表达我的谢意。我还祝愿你的子孙后代都像纯洁的玉一样无暇，官运亨通。”

　　Not long afterwards, he had a strange dream. A child dressed in brown clothes came to thank him for saving his life. He presented Pao with four priceless white jade bracelets, saying, "Sir, I am an envoy of the Heavenly Queen. You have saved my life. I would like to show my gratitude by presenting these four immaculate jade bracelets to you, with my blessing that your children and grandchildren be as spotless as pure jade, and hold posts in the top ranks of the government."

杨宝并不想接受这些礼物，但那个褐衣男孩一再坚持，最后他只好收下了镯子。刚收下，他就醒了，发现刚才只是个梦。

　　Yang Pao did not want to take the gift, but the little boy dressed in brown insisted, so he finally took the bracelets. As soon as he did, he woke up and found that it had just been a dream.

“这个梦真奇怪。”他边想边晃脑袋。　　

　　"That sure was a strange dream," he thought, shaking his head.

后来，杨宝的儿子、孙子 、曾孙……，都像纯洁的玉一样无暇。他的四代子孙都是高官。　　

　　Yang Pao's sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and great- grandsons were as spotless as pure jade. For four generations, his descendants all held posts in the top ranks of the government.